Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio (Harrington Center)
Basics:
Mount St. Joseph hosted the annual tip-off classic this weekend. During the classic the Lions would find themselves pitted against eleventh ranked John Carroll, and Piedmont. The Lions were able to upset the highly ranked Blue Streaks on Saturday night, 101-82. Then followed that up with a win over Piedmont on Sunday, 91-60.
How it Happened:
MSJU V JCU
Prior to the game Lions head coach Toby Carrigan presented a plaque to John Carroll head coach Mike Moran. Moran who plans to retire at the end of this season, began his coaching career in Cincinnati at Elder High School as the freshman coach.
In what was the marquee match-up of the weekend, the Lions took the floor against the eleventh ranked team in the country. Your Lions would not disappoint as they were dominating, scoring 101 point in the win.
The game started off rough for the Lions as John Carroll jumped out to a 5-0 lead. The first half though belonged to the Lions as they outscored the Blue Streaks 60-39 the rest of the way coasting into the half up 16.
The Lions were led in the first half by Andrew Finley who scored 19 points, hitting four 3-pointers in the half.
During half-time Coach Carrigan honored his three seniors from last season's HCAC championships squad. Joel Scudder, Femi Thompson, and Travis Combs were given their championship rings from a season ago.
The second 20 minutes was much of the same for the Lions. John Carroll was able to cut the Lions lead to 15 on a couple of occasions, but the Lions were able to seperate themselves again every time. Adam Goetz led the way in the second half with 10 points and 6 rebounds.
The Lions would finish the game with a huge victory, a 101-82 win over the 11th ranked team in the country.
MSJU V Piedmont
The Lions were hoping to avoid an emotional let down after Saturday's huge win. The Lions point guard tandem of Andrew Finley and Jordan Henry would not allow that to happen.
The Lions would control the early going as over the first 5:10 of the game they jumped out to a 16-0 lead. With all the points during the stretch coming from Henry, and center Holden Hertzel.
The first half would be a game full of runs as Piedmont would follow the Lions 16-0 run with a 17-3 run of their own, cutting the score to 19-17 in favor of the Lions. Mount St. Joseph answered with another run outscoring Piedmont 23-5 over the final 10:13 of the first half, to take a 42-22 lead into the break.
The game would not get closer than 19 the rest of the way. The Lions continued to score the ball well and were able to lock down on defense. For the game they held Piedmont to 38 percent shooting, and 26 percent from the three point line.
Again the Lions were able to get to the free throw line at a staggering rate, the Lions went to the line 21 times while Piedmont only shot seven free throws. Getting to the line is only half the battle the Lions continued to make them at a high rate making 81 percent in the game.
All of this added up to the Lions running away with 91-60 victory.
Standouts:
The Lions backcourt led the way over the weekend. As the combination of Henry, Finley and Adam Goetz combined to score 109 points, and deliver 23 assists over the course of two games.
Against John Carroll Erik Edwards was the standout in the post, scoring 12 points and pulling down 13 rebounds for his second double-double in as many games.
The Lions also got big contributions from their bench, as Jake Cropper came in to score 14 points. Bobby Murdock added 9, knocking down three 3-point baskets.
In the Piedmont game Holden Hertzel led the way in the post, scoring 16 points, in only his third game in three years.
Up Next:
Mount St. Joseph (3-0, 0-0 HCAC) travels to Berea, Ky. on Tuesday the 22nd to take on the Mountaineers of Berea College (2-1, 0-0). The game is scheduled for a 7:30 PM tip-off.
